UPDATED: Investigators give details of Colo. shooter's booby trap

By John Ingold and Jessica Fender, The Denver Post

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

(Updated at 4:02 p.m.) CENTENNIAL — Just after midnight, the boombox would blare the music.

The music would draw the attention. The attention would jostle the door. The door would tug the fishing line. The line would topple the thermos full of glycerin, and the glycerin would mix in the frying pan with the potassium permanganate to create a flame.

The flame would set the petroleum-soaked carpet on fire. The fire would light the fuses. The fuses would detonate the jars filled with homemade thermite, smokeless powder and stove-top napalm mixed with bullets. The white ammonium chloride sprinkled across the floor by the front door, that was just to scare the police.

And that, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Garrett Gumbinner testified Tuesday in the second day of the Aurora theater shooting preliminary hearing, was one of two active explosive systems investigators found inside suspect James Holmes’ apartment.

There was one more, Gumbinner said, that involved 6-inch fireworks shells, a commercial pyrotechnic firing box atop the refrigerator, another boombox, a toy car and a remote control placed by a Dumpster.

“The whole apartment would have either exploded or caught fire,” Gumbinner said.

It didn’t, but only because neighbors who heard the loud music just after midnight on July 20 didn’t bother to bang on the door.

Gumbinner was one of two detectives who interviewed Holmes the afternoon following the early-morning shooting, hoping to gain insight into how to safely defuse the explosive tangle they say he created.

“He said he rigged his apartment to explode and catch fire,” Gumbinner said. “He said he was hoping to send resources to his apartment rather than the theater. By resources I mean law enforcement.”

Prosecutors honed their attention Tuesday on the devilish, meticulous plotting they say was behind the July 20 attack that killed 12 and wounded at least 58 others.

In addition to Gumbinner, an Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent detailed the 16 separate purchases Holmes is accused of making to acquire the four guns; 6,295 rounds of rifle, shotgun and handgun ammunition; dozens of gun magazines; ballistic gear; weapon slings; two laser sights; two tear-gas canisters; hundreds of practice targets; explosive chemicals; fireworks supplies; handcuffs; and a military first aid dressing.

ATF agent Steven Beggs said the purchases — all from online retailers or the Gander Mountain and Bass Pro Shops sporting goods stores in the metro area — began on May 10 and ended July 14. There were five purchases, alone, in the first week of July.

An Aurora detective also testified about two online dating profiles Holmes placed on the websites Match.com and Adult Friend Finder. Det. Tom Welton said in both Holmes asked the same question: “Will you visit me in prison?”

As prosecutors sought to establish premeditation in the attack, Holmes’ attorneys also revealed more of their strategy.

After prosecutors finished questioning Beggs, defense attorney Tamara Brady asked him whether it was illegal, for instance, to buy body armor or tear gas. Beggs said it wasn’t in Colorado.

“Is there any process in place in Colorado,” Brady persisted, “to screen out whether a severely mentally ill person is purchasing these items?”

The first 911 call came from Kevin Quinonez at 12:38 a.m., about 18 minutes after the movie “The Dark Knight” started.

In the 27-second call, Aurora Police Det. Randy Hansen said he counted 30 booms, which weregunfire.

Quinonez’ voice is frequently drowned out by the sound of the shots, but he can be heard saying, “There’s some guy ... after us.”

Within a 10-minute period, dispatchers received 41 calls from the theater.

Some victims and family members had seats in the courtroom Tuesday and listened to the tapes as they were played. One woman covered her face with a handkerchief.

Beggs said that on June 17 Holmes bought shooting targets.

The new district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, George Brauchler, was among those in the courtroom Tuesday. He was sworn in Monday.

During the first day of testimony Monday, Aurora police officers who arrived at the theater early July 20 testified about apprehending Holmes and helping victims.

Rita Paulina, 45, whose arm was shattered in the attack, and her husband, Anggiat Situmeang, who carried her from the theater, went to the hearing Monday but refused to go into the courtroom, instead watching on a television feed set up for victims and families in another room.

The stories they heard triggered painful memories and stirred their emotions, said Situmeang, 47. As police recounted the scene they found at the theater, Situmeang recalled, “my tears were coming out.”

When Paulina saw Holmes she grew frightened that he would leap up and commit mayhem in the court itself. “Our minds go back to six months ago,” Situmeang said.

Sam Soudani, father of 23-year-old victim Farrah Soudani, said Monday that his daughter attended with several friends and co-workers from Red Robin.

Farrah Soudani was hit by an explosive device in the theater, her father said. She lost her spleen and a kidney and had a big gash in her side

“I’m the father. I’m here to hold her hand. Personally, I don’t want to be here,” he said.

“She had a really hard time looking at him,” he said of Holmes. “He has no emotion. He’s like a robot.”

Prosecutors hope to show there is enough evidence against Holmes for him to stand trial on 166 counts of murder, attempted murder and other crimes for the shootings at the Century Aurora 16 movie theater that left 12 dead and at least 58 injured.

EARLIER VERSION OF THIS STORY

CENTENNIAL — During testimony Tuesday in the James Holmes preliminary hearing, 911 calls from inside Theater 9 were played in the courtroom.

A weeping 13-year-old girl can be heard with the chaos of the theater behind her.

“My two cousins, they’re sitting on the floor ... one of them” is not breathing, the girl told the dispatcher.

Testimony revealed that the first 911 call came from Kevin Quinonez at 12:38 a.m., about 18 minutes after the movie “The Dark Knight” started.

In the 27-second call, Aurora Police Det. Randy Hansen said he counted 30 booms, which were gunfire.

Quinonez’ voice is frequently drowned out by the sound of the shots, but he can be heard saying, “There’s some guy ... after us.”

The dispatchers received 41 calls from the theater in 10 minutes.

Some victims and family members had seats in the courtroom Tuesday and listened to the tapes as they were played. One woman covered her face with a handkerchief.

The new district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, George Brauchler, was among those in the courtroom Tuesday. He was sworn in Monday.

During the first day of testimony Monday, Aurora police officers who arrived at the theater early July 20 testified about apprehending Holmes and helping victims.

Prosecutors hope to show there is enough evidence against Holmes for him to stand trial on 166 counts of murder, attempted murder and other crimes for the shootings at the Century Aurora 16 movie theater that left 12 dead and at least 58 injured.